Vancouver City Councillor

Pedestrians, not just cyclists, must be the focus of new active transportation plan

Despite the focus on Downtown Eastside pedestrian fatalities, one of the first fatal victims this year was hit at 10th and Macdonald, proof that the risks of walking are allocated across all class and income lines.

Shrine to a fallen pedestrian on the side of a bus shelter, Jackson and East Hastings.

A truck at Pender and Nanaimo struck down the young man who may have been the first to die this year.

With the death toll now at 11, including three in five days, Vancouver Police are planning a jaywalking crackdown, but in the long term a better-designed city will be required.

Every trip taken to get around town, even if it includes a bicycle, car or bus, will also include walking. A task force on pedestrian improvements chaired by COPE councillor Anne Roberts in 2005 was quietly shelved by the NPA’s Sam Sullivan.

Now, however, active transportation is taking centre stage in the city’s new 10-year planning process— too late for at least 11 pedestrians, but better late than never.

Geoff Meggs was elected to City Council in November 2008 on the Vision Vancouver team led by Gregor Robertson. He lives with his wife, Jan O’Brien in a False Creek town house. They have two adult daughters. READ MORE